Spring motor and mounting for toys



April 24, 1962 B. E. BALTHAZOR 3,030,732

SPRING MOTOR AND MOUNTING FOR TOYS Filed March 13, 1961 FIG.I

' INVENTOR. B. E. BALTHAZOR ATTORNEY ilnited States were Fiied Mar. 13, 196i, Ser. No. 95,tl83 9 Claims. (Cl. 462t)6) This invention relates to a toy and more particularly to an improved spring motor and mounting for driving the toy or actuating other parts thereof.

The invention finds particular utility in toy vehicles as means for propelling the vehicles by energy stored in a spring wound up by manually moving the vehicle in reverse with its wheels in contact with the floor so that the spring stores energy to propel the vehicle forwardly when it is released; although, it will be apparent that the principles of the invention are applicable also to driving other parts of toys. The invention has for its principal object the provision of improved spring motor means and mounting thereof, specifically in connection with the axle mounting of a mobile toy. It is an object of the invention to provide improved mounting means for an element associated with the wind-up spring, which mounting means features novel structural details and means whereby it may be readily assembled and disassembled.

The foregoing and other important objects and desirable features inherent in and encompassed by the invention will becomeapparent as a preferred embodiment thereof is disclosed in detail in the ensuing description and accome panying sheet of drawings, the several figures of which are described immediately below.

7 FIGURE 1 is an elevational view, on a reduced scale, of a representative toy vehicle in which the invention is employed.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 2--2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a bottom perspective of the under side of the body in the area thereof associated with the rear axle and spring motor means.

FIGURE 4 is a bottom perspective of part of the mounting means for association with the spring motor.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged section on the line 55 of FIGURE 2, showing the relation-ship of the wind-up spring to the body-carried element when the spring is being wound.

FIGURE 6 is a similar view illustrating the same structure but showing the spring unwinding as it drives the axle forwardly.

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged section on the line 7-7 of FIGURE 2.

The vehicle chosen for purposes of illustration is a scale-model truck having a fore-and-aft main body 10 carried on front wheels 12 and on rightand left-hand rear wheels 14 and 15 respectively. The body 10 is provided with right- .and left-hand opposite sides, here respectively by rightand left-hand fore-and-aft side sills 16 and 17. The bottom edges of these sills are horizontally coplanar and therefore alford what may be regarded as a bottom for the body. However, here as in the claims, such expressions as front, bottom are used as terms of convenience and not of limitation, for obviously the structural components could have different geographical arrangements. Nevertheless, in the interests, of convenience and clarity, specific terminology will be employed.

In the present instance, the entire vehicle body is composed of a typical molded plastic which finds considerable favor in the toy industry and therefore there are provided respectively on the side sills 16 and 17 and integral parts thereof depending supports 18 and 19, which respectively have terminal ends 20 and 21 provided respectively with Fatented Apr. 24, 1962 downwardly opening notches 22 and 23. Each notch is of a shape which may be regarded as in the nature of a keyhole, in the sense that it has an upper relatively large shaft-receiving portion and a relatively restricted neck portion opening at a relatively wide month. In the case of the right-hand support 18, these portions are designated respectively at 24, 26 and 28; for the left-hand support 1%, these portions are respectively designated as 25, 27 and 29.

In ultimate assembly, the supports '18 and 19 journal therein, via the shaft-receiving portions 24 and 25 thereof, a transverse axle or shaft 30 which has opposite end portions carrying the wheels 14 and 15. These wheels may be secured to the axle 30 in any suitable manner to rotate with the axle.

The supports 18 and 19, being constructed of the material as aforesaid, are therefore inherently resilient or flexible and the portions thereof bordering the respective notches 22 and 23 are capable of temporary distortion to afford temporary enlargement of the respective necks 26 and 27 to enable forcible upward insertion and downward removal of the axle or shaft 363, it being clear that the outside diameter of the axle 30 is somewhat larger than the width of each of the necks of the notches but such outside diameter is tolerably smaller than the shaftreceiving portions 24 and 25 of the notches. Hence, al-v though appreciable force is required to install and remove the axle, once it is installed it rotates relatively freely in the journals afforded by the portions 24 and 25.

An intermediate portion of the shaft or axle 30 is loosely surrounded by a coil spring 32, the inside diameter of which is appreciably larger than the outside diameter of the shaft or axle for purposes to presently appear. A mid-portion of the shaft or axle is preferably flattened at 34 to facilitate piercing thereof to provide an aperture 35 through which one bent end '38 of the spring 32 is received to afford a connection between the spring and axle. There is considerable looseness between the spring end 30 and the aperture 36 so that the spring is movable radially in appreciable amounts relative to the axle. At the same time, the bent end 33 connects the spring to the axle to afford a driving connection therebetween. The opposite end of the spring 32 extends radially outwardly from the spring in the form of a hooked arm 3%, from which it will be seen that if the hooked end of the spring 39 is held and the axle is ro-. tated in a counterclockwise direction as seen in FIG- URE 5 (clockwise as seen in FIGURE 1) the spring will be wound and thus will store energy so that when the winding force on the axle is removed, the spring will unwind and will drive the axle in the opposite direction (clockwise in FIGURE 6; counterclockwise in FIGURE 1). This will of course propel the vehicle forwardly, in the present instance.

For the purpose of providing means for engaging the hooked end 39 of the spring 32, the present invention affords a novel preferably one-piece unit designated in its entirety by the numeral 46). As best seen in FIGURES 2 and 4, this unit comprises essentially a transverse normally horizontally disposed plate-like member 42 having rightand left-hand ends 44- and 45, respectively, and adapted to be disposed flatwise across the bottom edges of the side sills l6 and 17, with the ends 44 and 45 respectively adjacent to these side sills. As preferably an integral part of the member 42, there is provided a depending wall-like element 46 of substantial width measured transversely. This element terminates in a curved portion 48 which has a transverse rear edge 50 normally disposed parallel to and slightly below the level of the axle 30. When the unit at is mounted in place, and as will be presently described, the edge 5% is presented in such a position that when the axle is turned rearwardly or in its wind-up direction (FIGURE 5) the hooked arm 39 of the spring will engage the rear edge 50 of the unit. It will be clear that when the vehicle is in its normal operating position, the weight of the spring will cause it to assume the FIGURE 5 position so that the hook will readily engage the edge 50. When the spring is Wound up and the axle and wheel assembly released, the energy stored in the spring will of course drive the axle so as to propel the vehicle forwardly, it being understood of course that the wheels 14 and 15, as well as the front wheels 12, are in contact with the ground or floor. The shape of the hook 39 is such that it may easily pass the curved portion '48 of the element 46 (FIGURE 6) and thus afford a free-wheeling effect. That is to say, the rounded effect achieved by forming the hook 39 also establishes a cam which facilitates the aforesaid freewheeling effect.

The means for mounting the unit 40 on the under side of the body 10 is novel and has several advantages which will appear as the description progresses.

The plate-like member 42 is provided respectively adjacent to its rightand left-hand ends 44 and 45 with rightand left-hand slots 52 and 53. These slots and the respective depending supports 18 and 19 are so dimensioned that when the axle 30 is removed, the depending supports are received relatively freely through the slots so that the unit 40 may be moved upwardly against the under side of the vehicle.

In order that the unit 40 may normally be retained in place, cooperative means is provided in the form of locking devices at opposite ends of the unit in association with the opposite supports or side sills. In the present case, the support 18 is provided wtih forwardly and rearwardly projecting detent elements in the form of lugs 54, and similar lugs 55 are provided on the left-hand support 19. In each case, the lugs are spaced down-. wardly from the bottom of the associated sill 16 or 17 by a distance equal to the thickness of the plate-like member 42. This member, like the remainder of the vehicle, may be composed of molded plastic and therefore it has inherent resilience, as do the lugs 54 and 55. Hence, when the unit 40 is being installed, it is possible to force the portions of the unit that border the slots 52 and 53 over the associated lugs 54 and 55 in snap-in fashion so that the unit 40 is normally retained in place. The precision molding of the arrangement places the element 40 and its hook-engaging edge 56 in proper relationship to the axle and spring assembly. This axle and spring assembly is then installed in the notches in the supports as previously described. Because of the substantial Width of the edge 5! as measured lengthwise of the axle 30, considerable tolerance is provided in the mounting of the spring on the axle; that is to say, variations in length of the spring a well as variations in location of the opening 36 in the flattened portion 34 of the axle may be tolerated while still retaining the absolute engageability between the hook end 39 of the spring and the edge of the element 46.

Another advantage of the structure is that the vehicle may be produced without the spring and unit arrangement and a standard mold may be used in producing the vehicle body in which the supports 18 and 19 will have the unused lugs 54 and thereon, in which case the axle that replaces the axle 30 will not of course have a wind-up spring thereon such as the spring 32. However, other models may readily have the spring-motor means mounted thereon simply by providing a unit 40 for snap-in locking to the under side of the vehicle and by furnishing in addition thereto an axle and spring such as those at 30 and 32. This arrangement enables exploitation of mass-production methods without sacrifice from the standpoint of providing different models.

The element 46 is further rigidified or braced relative to the plate-like member 42 of the unit 40 by a plurality of integral braces 56, preferably provided in the form of Webs Cir extending between the front edge of the member 42 and the front bottom side of the wall-like element 46. It is another feature of the invention to provide locator means whereby the unit 40 can be installed only correctly. For this purpose, the left-hand rear corner has provided therein a notch 57 which is receivable by a depending lug 59 on the left-hand side sill 17 adjacent to the left-hand support 19. This assures assembly of the unit 40 with the element 46 ahead of the axle.

Features and advantages other than those categorically enumerated will readily occur to those versed in the art, as will many modifications and alterations in the preferred embodiment disclosed, all of which may be achieved Without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A toy vehicle, comprising: a fore-and-aft body having a bottom and opposite sides; a transverse horizontal platelike member disposed fiatwise beneath said bottom and extending between said sides and having opposite ends respectively adjacent to said sides, each of said ends having a slot therethrough; supports respectively joined to and depending from said sides and passing respectively through said slots to terminal ends spaced below said member, each of said support ends having therein a downwardly opening keyhole-shaped notch; said slots and supports being so dimensioned as to enable downward removal of said member past said support ends; releasable locking means including portions of the supports and respective portions of the member bordering said slots and cooperative to normally retain said member against downward removal; a transverse shaft received by and journaled in said notches, said shaft and portions of the supports bordering said notches being so constructed as to enable forcible downward removal of the shaft from the notches prior to downward removal of the member from the supports; a coil spring loosely surrounding the shaft intermediate the supports and having one end connected to the shaft and its opposite end projecting radially outwardly as an arm; and an element rigid on and depending from the member into proximity to said arm whereby upon rotation of the shaft in one direction said arm will engage the element to wind the spring to store energy for rotating the shaft in the opposite direction, said arm and said element being so relatively dimensioned as to enable said arm to substantially freely pass said element during rotation of said shaft in said opposite direction.

2. The invention defined in claim 1, in which: said member and element are integral parts of a one-piece unit.

3. The invention defined in claim 1, in which: said element has a lower transverse edge paralleling the shaft for engagement with said arm.

4. The invention defined in claim 1, in which: said element is in the form of a transverse upright wall of substantial width and having a lower end paralleling the shaft, said wall being integral with the member to comprise a one-piece unit therewith and said unit including brace portions integral with and extending between said wall and member.

5. The invention defined in claim 1, in which: the cooperative releasable portions on the supports and member comprise edge portions of the slots and lugs on the supports, said supports being of flexible yieldable material to enable temporary distortion of the lugs for removal of said member.

6. A toy vehicle, comprising: a fore-and-aft body having a bottom and opposite sides; a transverse horizontal platelike member disposed fiatwise beneath said bottom and extending between said sides and having opposite ends respectively adjacent to said sides; supports respectively joined to and depending from said sides respectively past said member ends to terminal ends spaced below said member, each of said support ends having therein an outwardly opening keyhole-shaped notch; releasable locking means including portions of the supports and respective portions of the member ends cooperative to normally retain said member against removal from the body; a transverse shaft received by and journaled in said notches, said shaft and portions of the supports bordering said notches being so constructed as to enable forcible removal of the shaft from the notches in a direction radially of said shaft; a coil spring loosely surrounding the shaft intermediate the supports and having one end connected to the shaft and its opposite end projecting radially outwardly as an arm; and an element rigid n and depending from the member into proximity to said arm whereby upon rotation of the shaft in one direction said arm will engage the element to wind the spring to store energy for rotating the shaft in the opposite direction, said arm and said element being so relatively dimensioned as to enable said arm to substantially freely pass said element during rotation of said shaft in said opposite drection.

7. A mobile toy, comprising: a body; a plate-like member disposed flatwise against said body; spaced supports joined to and extending from said body past said member to terminal ends spaced from said member, each of said support ends having therein an outwardly opening keyhole-shaped notch; releasable locking means including portions of the supports and portions of the member cooperative to normally retain said member against removal from the body; a shaft received by and journaled in said notches, said shaft and portions of the supports bordering said notches being so constructed as to enable forcible removal of the shaft from the notches in a direction radially of said shaft; a coil spring loosely surrounding the shaft intermediate the supports and having one end connected to the shaft and its opposite end projecting radially outwardly as an arm; and an element rigid on and extending from the member into proximity to said arm whereby upon rotation of the shaft in one direction said arm will engage the element to wind the spring to store energy for rotating the shaft in the opposite direction, said arm and said element being so relatively dimensioned as to enable said arm to substantially freely pass said element during rotation of said shaft in said opposite direction.

8. Atoy vehicle, comprising: a fore-and-aft body having a bottom and opposite sides; a transverse horizontal platelike member disposed flatwise beneath said bottom and extending between said sides and having opposite ends respectively adjacent to said sides, each of said ends having a slot therethrough; supports respectively joined to and depending from said sides and passing respectively through said slots to terminal ends spaced below said member, each of said support ends having therein a shaft-receiving opening and said openings being transversely coaxial; said slots and supports being so dimensioned as to enable downward removal of said member past said support ends; releasable locking means including portions of the supports and respective portions of the member bordering said slots and cooperative to normally retain said member against downward removal; a transverse shaft received by and journaled in said openings, said shaft being removable from said openings prior to downward removal of the member from the supports; a coil spring loosely surrounding the shaft intermediate the supports and having one end connected to the shaft and its opposite end projecting radially outwardly as an arm; and an element rigid on and depending from the member into proximity to said arm whereby upon rotation of the shaft in one direction said arm will engage the element to wind the spring to store energy for rotating the shaft in the opposite direction, said arm and said element being so relatively dimensioned as to enable said arm to substantially freely pass said element during rotation of said shaft in said opposite direction.

9. The invention defined in claim 8, including: locator means cooperative between the member and body for assuring proper assembly of the member to the body as respects engageability of said element with said spring arm.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,022,258 Pfeil Apr. 2, 1912 2,078,767 Marx Apr. 27, 1937 2,570,711 Rempel Oct. 9, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 73,003 Denmark Aug. 13, 1951 1,145,043 France Apr. 29, 1957 

